“I STILL can’t go upside down on that pole,” Pauline Fleming laughs as she describes the unusual regime which prepared her for her latest role.

The Liverpool-born actress – she grew up around Sefton Park – is currently touring the country in the poignant comedy The Naked Truth.

Looking at five different women who sign up for a pole-dancing exercise class, as well as examining the comedy of mismatches between them, it also deals with an issue affecting thousands of women each year.

Pauline explains: “My character is called Sarah and she has breast cancer.

“I’m afraid most of the comedy disappears when I’m on stage, but this is a very uplifting show, I have to add.

“Nobody in my family has had breast cancer, but I do work with the Lily Centre in Liverpool, so I am aware of the effect it has on other women.

“A gang from the centre has been out to see the play and they all loved it.

“We have done collections for breast cancer charities during the run as well.”

The all female cast includes Lisa Riley, best known for playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale, and has already been to a number of UK venues ahead of its stop at Southport Arts Centre from Tuesday, November 13, to Thursday, November 15.

When Your Time spoke to Pauline, instantly recognisable for her role as Mike Baldwin’s final girlfriend in Coronation Street, the play had just reached Glasgow.

She said: “We had our first night last night and it was fabulous, it was so refreshing.

“Scotland and Ireland audiences are very much the same, they have that raucousness about them, and being a Scouser, I feel if I don’t get that during a show then I’ve failed in a way, but this has been brilliant.”

The Naked Truth calls for the cast to get to grips with pole dancing exercises as the group prepares for an important fundraiser.

Pauline continues: “I keep fit anyway, but I have never done anything like pole dancing before.

“We have had girls coming in to see the show who do it and they say how much weight they’ve lost and how much it tones them up.

“It is certainly a very sexy form of exercise.”

And all that preparation seems worth it when the show has such a positive effect on its audience.

Pauline said: “We were in the airport, about to go on the next leg of the tour, when a woman who had seen the show In Jersey recognised us all.

“She stopped us to say that she had breast cancer, but seeing The Naked Truth had given her the biggest lift she’s had since her diagnosis.

“It’s important that acting touches people like that, otherwise you’re not doing your job.”

TICKETS for The Naked Truth are £16 (£14 concessions). Book on 01704 540011.